


Unwanted Fragile Hearts

by EdenMiasma



Series: The cruel hands of fate [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben Solo and Daisy, F/M, Homelessness, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Other, Yoda is a nice old irish guy, runaways - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-23 23:14:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14342994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdenMiasma/pseuds/EdenMiasma
Summary: At 20 years old Ben Solo lives in his car. Jobless, homeless, a torn $10 note in his pocket and a bank card that he’d snapped in half the other week by accident. The world was Cruel and he was trying his hardest to stand strong against it, but no matter how hard he tried he just cant seem to catch a break.He'd passed through many towns and cities and always had the same response. No work, no housing, nobody cared.But by some miraculous twist of fate his luck changed one fateful night when he comes across a young girl, fragile and small, desperate to run away from her home.





	Unwanted Fragile Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> Shower thoughts are an amazing thing because i pretty much structured this whole oneshot in my mind while washing my hair. 
> 
> [TRIGGER WARNING]  
> This fic insinuates Rey/Daisy was subject to physical abuse and possible sexual abuse in her home.  
> This fic also makes obvious mentions to homelessness.
> 
> Please read at your own risk.

The world is a cruel place.

 

Ben Solo had deducted as much in the past three years of his life. One minute the world is in the palm of your hand and the next youre deciding whether you will eat today or tomorrow while drying your shirt with your cars AC.

 

Everything can fall to shit when you least expect it and in the end you either stand strong and push through or you can mope till moss grows on your back. Somehow he chose the third option though, feel so sorry for yourself that somehow things work out by sheer luck and a little help from his intimidating stature.

 

At 20 years old he now lives in his car. Jobless, homeless, a torn $10 note in his pocket and a bank card that he’d snapped in half the other week by accident. But he thought of the positives when he could, The bank account had at least $50 in it and the bank was open on monday, so if he could stick out the weekend he might be able to use some of that to push his fuel gauge above its second spoke and jump to the next town to search for work.

 

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up google maps, the closest town to here was twice as large as the one hes been in for the past three weeks. It was technically classed as a ‘city’ but just barely, at least a ‘ _ city _ ’ would have more locations to ask for work. He’s sure hes employable, he has a fine enough history, no criminal activity  _ or at least none hes been caught for _ , good grades for what he even attended in Highschool, His father had taught him how to be a ‘handyman’ of sorts.

 

So  _ why wont anyone employ him _ ?

 

He wonders, _maybe its karma?_ _Maybe im too forward? Am i unclean looking?_

 

He flips down the sunshield and mirror, no, not unclean, though his facial hair was slowly coming through again much to his annoyance. He’d need to buy another pack of razors soon.

 

_ No, its nothing to do with me. This town is just shit, the people are just uptight and idiotic farmers, Im too much for them to handle. _

 

Sure, fake it till you make it was a method he liked in his younger years but may have developed some form of narcissism in him. But for now he was sure the townspeople were just  _ too dumb _ to realise  _ how good _ he was. 

 

In reality, he failed to factor in how small towns talk amongst themselves, everyone already knew of the homeless young man in his car who smelled of cigarettes and old cotton, with eyes that never ceased their glare. They didnt want someone so  _ lowclass  _ to stand at the register of their store at the risk he’d steal and skip town, or scare away their patrons.

 

The world is cruel, and so are the people in it. 

 

Ben throws his threadbare hoodie over his bare skin and zips it up to his neck before stepping out of his vehicle and locking it up. It was best to not waste the battery with his idle fidgeting of buttons and lights, so instead he walks in the cooling autumn air. He walks and walks and walks. Practically the whole length of the town from one end to the other.

 

At least this will tire him out. Sleep will come easy tonight.

 

When the chill got too much for him he pulled the hood over his numb ears lit up a cigarette, the smoke somehow making his lungs feel more alive than the brisk air did, like the deep grey clouds wrapped around his insides and smothered them like a blanket. A  _ cancerous _ blanket, but a blanket nonetheless.

 

He crosses familiar paths, the main street now quiet in the night, most store owners have retired for the day back to their happy families and warm homes, ready to fill their bellies with hot meals and sleep in comfortable beds. Those  _ assholes. _

 

There were a few shortcuts to make his treck back to his car easier, one that arcs around the back side of a abattoir and always smells like iron, another thats a tight fit alleyway between a four storey apartment building and some boring womens fashion outlets.

 

It is there that he ran into something… peculiar. Or moreover, stood on it. A little shriek of “OOW’ in a childish pitch that made Ben jump in place in panic. 

 

Sitting in the grime beside some overfilled dumpster was a child, probably no older than eight or nine, with the dim streetlight in the distance he could see the vague redness to her eyes and nose. She’d been crying obviously, before he had stood on her bare foot that had a generous boot print on it now.

 

“Asshole!” she curses at him.

 

_ Yikes. _

 

“The fuck did you just say to me?” Ben grit out, the words coming out angrier than he wanted, and the young girl tucked herself further into the corner between the dumpster and the wall. She was scared and crying in an alleyway alone.  _ Dont be unkind _ he chastised himself in a voice like his mothers.

 

“Sorry.. I didnt mean that, is your foot okay?”  _ much better, gentle and kind.  _

 

She shakes her head and rubs at her teary eyes with the back of her hand, Slowly Ben lowered himself to a squat and held out a hand. Whether it was to offer to hold or to coax her away from the corner he didnt quite know, but it wasnt working anyway. 

 

He tries to show her humility, gentleness, maybe she was lost. “What are you doing out here on your own? Where are your parents?” he asks. 

 

“Theyre gone” she states with a stuttered breath, followed by a loud sniff of her clogged nose. 

 

“Gone? Where did they live? I could take you to the police station if you cant remember”

 

“No!” the girl cuts him off at the end and slaps his hand away. As she reaches out her arm is exposed to the light and he can see a littering of deep bruises on her tiny arms.  _ Oh god, the poor thing. _

 

“I promise I wont hurt-”

 

“I dont want to go back! Dont take me back!” she all but screams. If she really didnt want to go back she’d probably be more cautious of her volume. But she was just a small hurt child, she doesnt know how the world works just yet, but shes already been exposed to so much cruelty.

 

“You wont go back just shhh” he brings a finger up to his lips and hushes, a gesture she surely understands. And she does, shutting her mouth with a pout and more tears welling in her sleepy eyes.

 

“Do they hurt you at home?” he asks this time. She nods.

 

_ Fucking monsters _

 

No wonder she doesnt want to go home, wherever home is, he wouldnt want to either. Thats why hes here on the streets too after all. “Do you have any friends I can take you to?”, she shakes her head, looking angrier the more he asks questions. 

 

He doesnt even think when he next speaks. “Do you want to come with me then?”

 

_ What the fuck are you doing!? _

 

The girls eyes glitter, hopeful, but still cautious, once again he extends his hand, slower, like approaching an animal that could startle and bolt at any moment. She can say no, he wont push it, but to leave her in the cold would be just too much for his heart to bare.

 

A tentative little hand reaches out, half the size of his own, and places itself lightly on the edge of his fingers. Her hands are  _ so cold,  _ fingertips white and red, he wants to wrap her up in a blanket and set her before a fire that he just can’t provide.

 

“I promise I wont do anything bad” he tells her, assuring. She trust him.

She stands up and she barely stands at the height of his ribs, wearing a ratty, mud stained T-shirt and knee length boyish shorts. Her knees are scuffed but look days old with crusted blood, theres no bruises on her legs from what he can see, and hes glad, at the very least things arent... _ that bad. _

 

“Where do you live?” she asks. He purses his lips. “My car”. He expects her to recoil or reject him, but she just chirps an ‘okay’ and waits for him to lead the way. The mind of a child isnt quite as judgmental as an adult and he appreciates it in a time like this.

 

His Car is still half way across the town though, and he apologises to the girl, she just shrugs and continues to pad her bare feet at a fast pace to match his walk.

 

Soon he notices shes cold, her arms wrap around to hold her own exposed biceps, clearly she hasnt got much ‘meat on her bones’ so to speak, in fact, she looked a bit malnourished. Ben unzips his hoodie and breathes quickly through his teeth as cold air passes over his chest.

 

He regrets washing his shirt today.

 

But the look the girl gives him when he offers her the still warm hoodie was pretty much worth it, a look of complete gratitude, like she knows hes giving up his own comfort for her sake. Shes completely dwarfed in it though, the sleeves hung to her feet and the chest material dropped lower than her shorts. At least it will keep her warm.

 

Lucky for him and his frequent diet of cheap takeout he at least has a considerable amount of body fat to keep him  _ sort of okay _ till they reach his car.

 

There’s already a layer of frost on his windows when they get there, so the inside was probably similar in chill. He unlocks it and tells her to get in the back seat where he keeps the blanket and pillow amongst other miscellaneous possessions of his. He takes the drivers seat and leans it back as far as he can, turning on the engine to begin filling the car with warm air.

 

He takes his hoodie back off her and replaces it with his blanket.

 

Shes curiously looking around at all his things, theres a bag of clothing on the floor, the bare minimum he owns currently, a thick woolen blanket that covers her completely but can barely fit over all of himself, a pillow half stuffed with old clothes he no longer fits. At the very least she can have a comfortable sleep as she doesnt take up much space at all.

 

Shes  _ concerningly small _ .

 

“So, do you have a name?” Ben asks her.

 

Her face scrunches up, in the yellow light of his car he can see freckles on her nose and a blistered lip. “Daisy” she says snidely, she obviously doesnt hold dearly to that name, he can understand that. For so long hes been desperate to drop the moniker ‘Solo’ but cant quite gather the money for a legal change. 

 

“Mines Ben” he offers as compensation for asking hers.

 

Daisy just pouts more, gives another sniff that sounds grossly wet, and yawns. The poor thing has probably been through a shit day, or even a shit week or month. He will talk more in the morning, figure something out, he’ll be damned if he lets a child suffer if he can help them.

 

“You should get some rest, G’nite kiddo” He says before turning off the ignition and letting the car settle into darkness. Just as he feels himself settle into the haze of sleep he hears the girl.

 

“Mr Ben?” shes ‘whispering’ in a voice that sounds too loud against the quiet of night.

 

He responds with a grunt to let her know hes listening.

 

“Thank you for saving me” with that she tucks herself into a ball and falls asleep quickly, leaving Ben to rest with a newfound warmth in his chest. 

 

* * *

 

Come morning theres a knock on the window that startles the two awake.

 

Ben jolting in his seat and ready to flee while Daisy tucks herself into a tighter ball and whines for her interrupted rest. Theres a man outside, and he can see the sun is barely risen, its probably around six in the morning.

 

Internally he panics, If it was a police officer he could get himself another ticket for a parking violation, or worse yet accuse him of something terrible and predatory for the girl in his back seat. With hesitance he slowly opens his door to address this newcomer.

 

The man is wearing a navy sweater and some tired jeans, a red beanie on his head and nose tinged red from the cold outside. He doesnt appear threatening and definately isnt dressed like a police officer, so Bens anxiety settles. 

 

“G’mornin!” the man pipes up first. He has a fading irish accent and teeth a tad too big for his mouth, but his grin is friendly. “Noticed ya camping out here for the past few days”

 

“Um.. yeah” Ben’s voice comes out thick from both sleep and stress.

 

“I didnt know you had a little one in tow, m’ sorry for your struggles” 

 

So the man knew about the girl already, he’d probably snuck a peek through the windows as they slept, again his guard is raised. “I know its not much but i thought you could at least use a pick-me-up on a chilly morning like this”

 

_ A pick-me-up?  _

 

The man picks up a cardboard tray that he’d rested on the hood of the car, He can already see the steam pouring from the plastic lids of two paper cups. He’d bought them warm drinks for the morning. 

 

“Didnt know if you were a coffee man but a good hot chocolate never hurt anyone”

 

Ben’s heart swelled with something, so tight and greatful and painful, he chokes out a pitiful ‘Thank you’ that clearly showed how much he appreciated it as his throat tightens and something burning bites the edges of his vision. 

 

The kind man just reaches out and gives him a firm and very  _ fatherly _ pat on his shoulder. His smile is somehow sad, pity, he feels sorry for their shitty living situation.

 

“If Im bein’ honest…” The man speaks again “M’ wife Theresa was talking about calling the cops on ya, as were some other uh.. concerned housewives” 

 

_ Oh… _

 

“Youre not doing no harm, I can see that, I came out to give early warning till I saw you and your daughter”

 

_ oh?  _

 

“This is no place for a man like you, You’ll probably have more luck a few towns over, more places for work, and a few nice hotels for the worst nights… Its just not safe for yous two here”

 

It seems skipping town next week has been rescheduled to today. Ben spares a short glance back inside the car to see Daisy sitting up and staring at the two adults conversing, her hair is sticking around her in an absolute mess.

 

“Ah, i should leave you two, The ol’ ball and chain will be waking soon, cant let her catch me in kahootz with the scary stranger” 

 

He pushes the tray into Bens hands and begins striding away, hands in his pockets and whistling a little ditty to himself. Never had anyone given him such a kind gesture before, granted it was a little backhanded as he’d been told to pack up and leave, but it was coming from a good place in the kind old heart of a man.

 

When he slides back inside the car and shuts the door Daisy is resting her elbows on the center glovebox, staring at him with wide eyes. He feels an ache to see those bruised little wrists of hers.

 

“Who was that?” she asks.

 

“I… I dont know” Ben responds, but plucks one of the hot cups from the cardboard and hands it to her. Immediately she latches onto it, hands tightly clasped to it to draw as much of the radiating warmth into her chilled fingertips and drinking down like a starved cat.

 

Admittedly, he  _ was _ a coffee man, but the sweetness of the drink was enough to shock him back to the reality of what had happened, and will surely keep him awake and buzzed to take them to the next town at least.

 

Beneath the cups were some folded napkins, Daisy took them both, having gotten the hot chocolate on most of her mouth. But beneath it was enough to bring Ben to tears.

 

Ever since he became homeless he’d never let himself drop to this, he felt crying was weak, he felt it was a sign that you were giving up, that things were just too hard. A folded clip of notes, all crisp 50’s, ten of them. 

 

That man was beyond kind, he was a saint, a hero. “Are you ok Mr Ben?” Daisy asks over his shoulder, he wipes his running nose on the sleeve of his hoodie and composes himself a bit.

 

“Yeah, Im ok”

 

On the back of the notes was a small scribbled message written on the corner of a napkin.    
_ Head east to Dagobah and stay at the Willowtree Inn. Just mention you were sent by Mr Yoda and they will take care of you for a night. _

 

  * __Safe travels!__



 

 

If there was a god, Mr Yoda was above them, so far above them.

 

Ben searched Dagobah, it was an hour drive away, another small town, but from there it was a half hour drive till a sufficiently larger city than the one he’d been eyeing on google maps. Coruscant was its name, a population of over 200,000, endless possibilities.  _ Potential work! _

 

He starts the engine of the car and the radio begins to play lowly, its a poptune hes unfamiliar with, but the way the tune played was fast and fun and felt fitting to the recent  _ incredibly positive _ events. 

 

“Where are we going?” Daisy piped up from the back seat, still nestled in the blankets.

 

“To a new town, is that okay?”

 

She nods.  _ Okay. Its official, I kind of have a kid now. Have I technically kidnapped her? Will the police come for me? _

 

He doesnt let himself linger on it, He’d taken a girl away from a bad place, a battered and bruised scared little girl. She said he’d  _ saved her _ . That must be worth something, wouldnt it?

 

“Are we going to the city?”

 

“Yeah, Coruscant, have you been there?”

 

“For a little bit” 

 

“It should be nice, we are staying in another town for tonight though. It will be good to sleep in a bed for once” Ben notes that his neck is more sore today than it was the day before, thats just how he gets when he sleeps in the drivers seat. 

 

“How long have you been sleeping in your car?” shes very inquisitive.

 

“.. about two years i think, maybe two and a half”

 

“Hmm… thats sad” 

 

_ What an understatement.  _

 

He pulls out of his park and heads straight for the fuel station. He was going to fill the car to its last spoke and just the thought excites him, It had been months since he’d had a full tank. While he refueled Daisy hid in the back seat of her own accord, she didnt want to be caught, and he can understand why, so he make short work of refueling and paying while tossing in a packet of chips and can of soda or two for the ride.

 

He felt she’d probably want something to snack on or some sugar to keep her energy levels at an obnoxious high.

 

As he pulls out again and merges onto the freeway Daisy pokes her head up from the blankets again and meets his eyes through his rear view mirror. She runs her fingers through her hair to ‘brush’ it, and her motions are practiced like shes done it a thousand times before. Shes probably lived with the bare minimum of hygiene care, at the very least he will try and make sure shes kept clean.

 

“Theres a green bag in the footwell, i think theres a hairbrush in the left pocket” he tells her. She digs through his belongings, yes there is one, a few of the brushes teeth are missing from a losing battle with Bens own messy shoulder length locks. 

 

After she manages to get her hair smoothly brushed she takes an elastic from the same pocket of his bag and ties her hair back into a loose bun. He keeps checking on her every so often when the straight expanse of road, he finds her entertaining herself mainly by watching out the window or digging through his things.

 

At a point he has to pull over so she can use the bathroom at a conveniently placed rest stop, as she does he lets himself smoke and revise where he is in life now. 

 

The world was still Cruel as hell, but things can be okay. A Kind man had given him a boost, five hundred dollars and a hot chocolate, he has a nine year old traveling with him who asks a lot of questions and is scared to go back to what he assumes is an abusive home. He gets to sleep in a bed tonight, with sheets, and he can probably have a comfortable shower tonight too.

 

Things can be okay.

 

Daisy steps out of the public bathroom shaking her hands and wiping them off on her t-shirt. She looks at him and scrunches her nose, she might not be fond of smokers, but hes nowhere near quitting just yet, at least not while he lacks so much control over his life.

 

“Can I sit in the grownup seat?” she asks. 

 

Ben quirks an eyebrow.  _ Grownup seat?  _ “You mean the one next to me?”

 

She nods excitedly. Ok, she takes that seat, in a way it becomes officially ‘her spot’ and she makes sure he knows it. She rambles about how her ‘papa plutt’ never let her sit in the frontmost seat of the car because he claimed she’d be a distraction, or would lie about another reason. In reality he probably just didnt want her near him because from what he can tell  _ papa plutt _ was a cunt.

 

When they got into Dagobah Ben noticed how old the town was, the houses were ancient, possibly historical relics from the colonisation period. In the centre of the town is a chapple, two tall stone towers with bright stained glass windows that painted stories along the walls. He thinks it must look stunning inside.

 

The Willowtree Inn is a quaint little building, lengthwise it reaches out towards the woods and extends in a curved arm to hold a small plot of land thats been decorated with rose bushes. It was well looked after and obviously a passion project of whoever owned it. 

 

Ben walked inside the lobby and is immediately greeted by a silver haired old man sitting at the desk. He was balding and had the same kind of glint to his eyes as Mr Yoda did, something Ben now considers the look of a charitable man.

 

He mentions Yoda like he was instructed to, and the man barks out a hearty laugh, claiming they ‘go way back’ and how he trusts the mans word. It was nice to know good men had other good men as company, in the back of his mind he desires to be just like this, selfless and giving and bright.

 

The man collects a small set of keys with a wooden tag, the number 3 delicately hand painted on it with swirling roses in the corners.  _ Cute. _ Ben goes to his car to collect Daisy and stuff what he feels he might need into one of his backpacks, and another for her to carry, at the very least he wanted to give off the image that he’s got his shit together. 

 

Hes greatful Yoda’s friend regards Daisy the same way he did, assuming her to be his daughter, and Ben considers keeping his wiry facial hair to continue the image of an older man. The less questions asked the better. 

 

“Its so pretty!” Daisy chirps happily, her eyes dance with energy as she stands on top of the mattress of one of two beds in the room. She bounces a little and giggles, casting a glance to Ben to make sure he was watching before she tossed herself back to flop onto the soft sheets. Hes glad she’s enjoying it.

 

He takes a shower first and the tension melts off his skin so pleasurably. The warm water lightly pelted away the knotted muscles and fatigue of existence, the supplied shampoo and conditioner is a lovely floral scent, as is the soap, and he comes out feeling simply  _ wonderful _ with a towel draped over his wet hair and eyes lidded, ready for some well earned rest. 

 

Daisy showers too, spending upwards of 20 minutes in there, but he doesnt question her or push curiosity, she can do whatever she wants really, they werent paying for the water, in fact they werent paying for the room at all.

 

May as well make the most of what theyve been graciously given.

 

He lets Daisy borrow some of his older clothes, ones he’d grown out of, a shirt that may as well be a dress and his summer shorts that are very oversized pants on her short thin legs. She mentions how she looks like an idiot, but a warm idiot, shes not one to care much for her image it seems because she smiles at her reflection and baggy hand me downs.

 

After an hour nap Daisy shakes Ben awake, shes bored, so they walk through the rose garden, she tells him a story she’d heard from a prior ‘mother’ (shes had a few) about a dragon made of petals who could grant any wish in the world. 

 

He asks her what she would wish for, and silence settles over her for much too long. 

 

Ben is scared he hit a sensitive subject out of nowhere, and he watches her pull the petals from a wilting yellow bloom.

 

“Id wish for a nice daddy” 

 

His heart aches for the poor girl. She deserved the best father, one that would never lay a finger on her, one that would love and cherish her, put her through school, buy her gifts. A man who would think of her before he thought of himself in all situations.

 

He wants to be that. He wants to show her kindness, his chest burns with an instinctual desire to protect her. 

 

“What would you wish for?” she asks him in response

 

“I dont know... “ he really doesnt. A million dollars? To turn back time to when he was 16 and just beginning to lose control of his life and fix it all? For the whole planet to explode and let him settle into the endless oblivion in peace?

 

Somewhere in the back of his mind he imagines a caricature home, a white fence surrounding red bricks, bright green grass and a tree in the yard, a young girl with skimmed knees and untied laces swinging lazily in the summer sun. 

 

_ Yeah.. i wish you had a nicer dad too. _

 

* * *

 

The sun sets early in the autumn, after Daisy had collected an interesting share of shells and rocks in his shirt like a basket they decided to retire for the night. Mr Yoda’s friend treated them to a warm meal cooked in the communal kitchen on the far end of the building. It was simple and bland, some kind of pasta, but Daisy put it away faster than he could even perceive. 

 

She’d been starved before. Hes familiar with such a trait. 

 

The Inn owner leaves them alone after that and the two are left in the warm dark room, they tuck themselves away in separate beds respectively, Bens phone hooked to the nearest wall to recharge, it was going to be probably his most comfortable sleep in weeks. He was  _ so ready. _

 

“Mr Ben?” Daisy pipes up from her blanket cocoon.

 

“Yeah”

 

“Are you going to get a house?”

 

_ In this economy? Don’t make me laugh. _

“Maybe..” 

 

“Can I live there?”

 

He smirks, huffing out a small laugh. He cant say no, but he’d never considered the longterm of this… situation. He had this runaway girl, hes homeless, but if hes lucky one day he might not be, and then where will he be? Living in a rental home with a teenage girl, that wont look nice to the neighbours…

 

“Of course you can”

 

“... i dont want to be Daisy”

 

That was a weird addition. “You dont like your name?” Ben questions back.

 

“Its a stupid name, and Daisy is a stupid girl. I dont want to be Daisy”

 

_ Sure, a little escapism never hurt anyone.  _ He did put into consideration that surely one day he will be approached by Law Enforcement about her. Shes a runaway girl from an abusive home but in the eyes of the government youre all but a possession of your parents till adulthood, and the police dont look to kindly on thievery, let alone  _ people thievery _ .

 

“Did your parents ever take pictures of you? Like ones that show your smile?” Ben asks.

 

She looks at him strangely, is if to ask  _ why the hell would it matter _ , before responding. “None of my face” that settled a nauseous pit in his stomach. He let it go for now, its too early to pry, too early to try and piece together her trauma.

 

“Then… you dont really  _ need _ to be Daisy anymore”

 

She sits up in bed and stares at him in question, eyes wide, glittering, “what?” she almost sounded  _ too happy _ to be told that. She wants to escape that old life, and if she wants, this can be her new chance, the rules of causality have been kind to her.

 

“Who can I be then?”

 

Ben shrugs. “If the cops can’t find an image of your face then we can change your name and Daisy will disappear”

 

“Can you help me with a name?”

 

“Hm..” he scratches at the growing length of facial hair on his face, it feels much softer now that hes showered, hes beginning to like it a bit more despite everything. “How about… Alice?” She scrunches her face.

 

_ Ok thats a no. _

 

“Jessica?”

 

_ Nope. _

 

“Skye?”

 

_ Hm maybe? _

 

“Rey?”

 

_ Bingo. _

 

She bugs at the last name, for probably the first time he sees her smile in a way that shows her teeth. She likes Rey, she can be a Rey.  _ short for Reymond. no. reyleigh? This sounds too ‘white people’. _ Shes just Rey.

 

“You do it too!” she insists. 

 

Granted, Ben had no intention to change his name at any point other than to remove the name Solo from the gene pool as his last act of generosity. But maybe this can be his pathway into it, and by extension a pathway to an easier life where the past can no longer wrap its cancerous tendrils around him.

 

Ben Solo will die tonight. Buried beneath the floorboards beside young Daisy.

 

“Give me a name then” He tells her. 

 

“Adam!” 

 

_ The last Adam i knew was an emotionally unstable carpenter. Liked to yell.  _

 

“Maybe not”

 

“Barry!”

 

“God no”

 

“Gabo”   
“Sheev”   
“Kylo”   
“Jeje”

 

She sounded like she was just slamming together random phonetics and hoping for the best. One of them sounded a little interesting.  _ Kylo _ . It was unique, a little stupid, but she was nine and probably didnt have a list of ‘popular 20 year old mens names’.

 

“Kylo” he repeats to her. To  _ Rey. _

 

She offers that same toothy grin again and repeats the name a couple of times. It sounds like a foreign food, but it can work. 

 

“We just need a last name now” He offers. She gets to seal the deal.

 

“Ren!”

 

“Sold I guess”

 

Dai-  _ Rey _ makes a joyous sound and kicks her legs beneath the blankets. It was official then, Sure it wasnt written on paper or legally recognised but if they grow attached enough it can be one day. 

 

Kylo and Rey Ren. 

 

Ben Solo and Daisy have been laid to rest. Tomorrow they will leave them behind, and start something new in Coruscant. The gears of fate are turning in his favor for once.

 

The world is a beautiful place.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This first part to 'The cruel hands of fate' is soft. But i have no intention of keeping it that way.  
> The following fic and its chapters will likely be considered 'problematic' and again i implore you read at your own risk.
> 
> but regardless I hope you enjoyed this piece! :D


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